MVC Tournamentreport

Fab freshman

Marcus Marshall backed up his new status as Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year with a strong two-day performance at the MVC Tournament. He matched a career-high with 25 points on Friday against Wichita State after getting 18 a night earlier against SIU.

Marshall's 25 was the most points by a freshman in the tournament since Creighton's Kyle Korver hit for 25 against Bradley in 2000. Korver went on to eventually become Valley Player of the Year and remains playing in the NBA.

The MSU rookie standout also went past Blake Ahearn's school-record for points by a freshman during Friday's game. He wound up with 363 points and an 11.2-point average.

All that might make Marshall smile in a few days. He took little immediate joy in what he'd accomplished.

"I mean, everything with these guys right here," Marshall said, nodding toward teammates Anthony Downing and Keith Pickens. "I'm really happy with these guys. I'm really happy how they went out and fought throughout the whole season.

"They stayed patient with us. They worked hard."

Who's he?

Wichita State freshman Ron Baker scored 15 points in his first game since December. He missed 10 weeks with a stress fracture in his foot and was a major factor, making three second-half 3-pointers.

He came up big on a night when WSU all-conference forward Cleanthony Early scored only five points.

"He's a good basketball player. He can pass it, he's one of our better defenders," WSU coach Gregg Marshall said of Baker. "He can obviously shoot it."

Added MSU coach Paul Lusk: "He's on the all-freshman team if he doesn't get hurt. A really good player."

By the numbers

Anthony Downing had his 43rd double-figure scoring game in his two-year MSU career. ? Nathan Scheer played in his 100th game, but it was a tough one. Scheer had one point and missed all five of his 3-point attempts. ? Wichita State is the only team Lusk hasn't defeated in his two years as Bears coach. MSU is 0-5 against WSU in that time.

"It's really cool," McDermott said of setting the record in St. Louis with about 6,000 Bluejays fans in attendance. "I've got to give a lot of credit to my teammates and coaches because I wouldn't ever be in this position without them."